Country shares grief of death of ANC stalwart Ismail Coovadia
ALTHOUGH words can never fully express how much someone means to us, language can still provide comfort, solace, hope and even inspiration after the death of a person who did so much for so many over such a long time as Ismail Coovadia did.
Ismail was an icon of the times. His dedicated long life and monumental contributions to the country reaffirm our faith in humanity that the streams of unending assistance to the destitute and helpless have not dried up. Nobody can forget this exemplar of utmost devotion to all the tasks he undertook on a scale that defies description.
His life was a fabric of compassion, the main strands of which were helping and assisting scores of men, women and children who turned to him and his office for assistance needed to sustain life and dignity.
Ismail’s work touched every social ailment as he tried to bring comfort and care to the desperate masses during a time of poverty and endemic racism.
On this solemn and sad occasion, as we beseech him to intercede for us, let his life be a chronicle of servitude that all of us can try to emulate.
Ismail was described as the human face of eternal hope who embodied the principles of the ANC.
To people in many parts of our country, he was a role model of charity, compassion and selflessness. To the destitute, he was the beacon that gave hope to their desperate existence. Many of us dreamt of changing the world, but few acted on it. And even fewer did it as bravely as this humble man.
He gave substance and meaning to the word ubuntu with his supreme acts of generosity. The memory of Ismail and his yeoman service to humanity will live long and achieve immortality when most of us lesser men have died and been forgotten.
The community is distraught and we want to express our love and bereavement to his beloved family. He may be succeeded but will never be replaced. May the Lord’s blessing be upon him in the great beyond. Now he passes on into immortality as icon Ismail Coovadia, a symbol of individual excellence. FAROUK ARAIE | Benoni